Keywords- change management, working style, attitude, personality, change management process

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1 CHANGE MANAGEMENT Rupali M. Kulkarni Assistant Professor Department Of Management Studies Sandip Institution Of Technology And Research Centre Mahiravani Nashik ABSTRACT Change is the requirement of the time. Change is required in every aspects that is infrastructure, working style, leadership style, working environment, culture, attitude, personality, thought process and every that aspects which is related with the organization. Organizational change refers to any modification or a drastic shift in an organization s people, policy, programme, structure, technology or a any other element that impacts the organization. The organizational changes can be classified in to the following three types. Strategic change, structural change, people centered change. These three are the basic streams where change is required. Change Management processes may include creative marketing to enable communication between change audiences, as well as deep social understanding about leadership s styles and group dynamics. As a visible track on transformation projects, Organizational Change Management aligns groups expectations, communicates, integrates teams and manages people training. It makes use of performance metrics, such as financial results, operational efficiency, leadership commitment, communication effectiveness, and the perceived need for change to design appropriate strategies, in order to avoid change failures or resolve troubled change projects. Here are some rules for effective management of change. Managing organizational change will be more successful after application of simple principles. Change management entails thoughtful planning and sensitive implementation. Consultation with, and involvement of, the people affected by the changes. Keywords- change management, working style, attitude, personality, change management process Introduction Management is nothing more than motivating other people- Lee Iacocca Former Chairman Chrysler Change is the order of the day. Change before change changes you and change or decay are the buzz words of the day. The factors that force the change include nature of the workforce, technology, economic shocks, competition, social trends and world of politics. Change is link 1

2 with changing customer needs, designing new technologies for meeting customer needs and evolving new managerial practices. Dealing with change and, more importantly, the impact of change is a high priority for all organizations. Now days there are various courses are design for change management. Following are the various benefits of the change management in organization. Benefits for Individuals Improve ability to change by managing reactions and develop an understanding of change by identifying the impacts that initiatives can have and learning to address them. Learn how people react to change and use this knowledge to lead them successfully through business transformation. Learn about change theories and how to apply the appropriate theory for an organization s specific needs. This will enhance the way colleagues and organizations deal with and embrace change as well as establishing personal change management processes based on learning s. Know how to take people through the various phases of transition and lead change more effectively with less resistance and more support. Help individual to understand how to react to change so you are equipped to lead more effectively and sympathetically. Benefits for Organizations Complement established, process driven methods to develop a holistic picture of change. Attain a unique, tailored change management process based on the specific needs of the organization. Reduce the risk of failure or delay during periods of organizational transformation by maintaining productivity and reducing costs. Gain support from staff and instil confidence in the change management programme so employees are comfortable and prepared to move forward to the next stage. Change Management certified professionals use their comprehensive understanding of change, its benefits and its impact on various groups within organizations to allow the organization to react more effectively to competitive pressures and to global, political and environmental issues. Foundation Level The purpose of the Foundation qualification is to measure whether you have sufficient knowledge and understanding of the Change Management Text and Handbook to act as an informed member of a change management team during a period of change within part or all of your organization. The Foundation qualification is also a pre-requisite for the Practitioner qualification. Types of organization change Organizational change refers to any slight modification or a drastic shift in an organization s people, policy, programme, structure, technology or any other elements that impacts the organization. The organizational changes can be classified in to the following three types. 2

3 Strategic change:- A strategic change occurs with any alternation in the core of a business organization, like its vision, mission, goals, objectives, strategies etc. This change effects the entire organization in one way or the other. Structural Change: - It occurs with any change in the following; and organizational tasks, procedures, policies and rules. It can also include the introduction of new products, models and variants that require modifications in different processes, like manufacturing, delivery, sales and marketing etc. It may also involve the introduction of new policies, rules and regulations, and new procedures and methods of performing specific tasks. People- Cantered change:-it represents changes in the skills and performance of employees. It can be brought about through training and replacement of present employees. Factors responsible for Organizational Change- A factor that leads to different types of change in an organizational setting is the first step for a manager to learn how to effectively manage the change. Various factors responsible for organizational change may be grouped in to two categories. External Factors and Internal Factors. 1. External Factors- These are the outside factors which are responsible for change. These factors are beyond the control of the organization. The organization is bound to change itself in accordance with these factors in order to execute its operations, compete in the market and serve its customers in an effective and efficient manner. Change is inevitable in the life of an organization. In today s business world, most of the organizations are facing a dynamic and changing business environment. They should either change or die, there is no third alternative. Organizations that learn and cope with change will thrive and flourish and others who fail to do so will be wiped out. The major forces which make the changes not only desirable but inevitable are technological, economic, political, social, legal, international and labour market environments. In very simple words, we can say that change means the alteration of status quo or making things different. The term change refers to any alterations which occurs in the overall work environment of an organisation. When an organizational system is disturbed by some internal or external force, change frequently occurs. Change, as a process, is simply modification of the structure or process of a system. It may be good or bad, the concept is descriptive only. There are a number of factors both internal and external which affect organizational functioning. Any change in these factors necessitates changes in an organisation. The more important factors are as follows: 3

4 Every organization exists in some context; no organization is an island in itself. Each must continually interact with other organizations and individuals- the consumers, suppliers, unions, shareholders, government and many more. Each organization has goals and responsibilities related to each other in the environment. The present day environment is dynamic and will continue to be dynamic. Changes in social, political, economic, technology, and legal environment force organizations to change themselves. Such changes may result in organizational changes like major functions production process, labour-management relations, nature of competitions, economic constraints, organizational methods etc. In order to survive in the changing environment, organization must change. How the change in various environmental, organizations, must change. How the changes in various environmental factors necessitate change in the organization may be seen in following context:- Technology: When there is a change in technology in the organizational environment and other organizations adopt the new technology, the organizations under focus become less cost effective and its competitive position weakens. Therefore, it has to adopt new technology, its work structure is affected and a new equilibrium has to be established. Marketing conditions: Since every organization exports its outputs to the environment, an organization has to face competition in the market. There may be two types of forces which may affect the competitive position of an organization other organizations supplying the same products and, buyers who are not buying the product. Any changes in these forces may require suitable changes in the in the organization. For example, when Indian economy was liberalized, there were many foreign organizations that entered the Indian market. This forced many Indian organizations to realign themselves with the new situations. The result in that there have been many cases of divesting the business and concentrating on the core business, acquiring core business, and developing competitive competence to face competitive threats. Similarly, there may be changes in buyers in terms of their needs, liking disliking and income disposal for a product. These changes from the organizations to bring those products which meet buyer s requirement. Social changes: Social changes reflect in terms of people s aspirations, the needs, and their ways of working. Social changes have taken place because of the several forces like level of education, urbanization, feeling of autonomy, and international impact due to new information sources. These social changes affect the behavior of people in the organization. There, it is required to make adjustment in its working so that it matches with people. Political and legal changes: Political and legal factors broadly define the activities which an oganisation can undertake and the methods which will be followed by it in accomplishing those activities. Any changes in these political and legal factors may affect the organization operation. 4

5 2. Internal Factors It is not only the changes in external factors, which may necessitate organizational changes; any change in organization s internal factors may also necessitate changes. Such a change is required because of two reasons: changes in managerial personnel and deficiency in existing organizational practices. Changes in the managerial personnel: Besides environmental changes there is a change in managerial personnel. Old managers are replaced by new mangers, which necessitated because of retirement, promotion, transfer or dismissal. Each new manager brings his own ideas and way of working in the organization. The relationships, more in the organization. The relationships, more particularly informal ones, changes because of changes in managerial personnel. Moreover, attitude of the personnel change even though there is no changes in them. The result in that an organization has to change accordingly. Deficiency in Existing organization: Sometimes, changes are necessary because of deficiency in the present organizational arrangement ad process. These deficiencies may be in the form of unmanageable span of management, large number of managerial levels, lack in co-ordination between various departments, obstacles in communication, multiplicity of committees, lack of uniformity in policy decisions, lack of cooperation between the line and staff, and so on. Beside these internal factors, there are two more internal factors that give rise to organizational changes. Nature of the work force: The nature of work force has changed over a passage of time. Different work values have been expressed by different generations. Workers who are in the age group of 50 plus value loyalty to their employers. Workers in their mid thirties to forties are loyal to themselves only. The youngest generation of workers is loyal to their career. The profile of the workforce is also changing fast. The new generation of workers has better educational; they place greater emphasis on human values and questions authority of managers. Their behavior has also become very complex and leading them towards organizational goals is a challenge for the managers. The employee turnover is also very high which again put strain on the management. To avoid developing inertia: In many cases, organizational changes take place just to avoid developing inertia or inflexibility. Conscious manager take into account this view of organization that organization should be dynamic because any single method is not the best tool of management every time. Thus, changes are incorporated so that the personnel develop liking for change and there is no unnecessary resistance when major change in the organization are brought about. Managing Planned Organizational Change Process A planned change is a change planned by the organization; it does not happen by itself. It is affected by the organization with the purpose of achieving something that might otherwise by 5

6 unattainable or attainable with great difficulty. Through planned change, an organization can achieve its goals rapidly. The basic reasons for planned change are: To improve the means for satisfying economic needs of members To increase profitability To promote human work for human beings To contribute to individual satisfaction and social well being The planned organizational change process may comprise, basically the three following steps: 1. Planning for change 2. Assessing change forces 3. Implementing the change 1. Planning for Change The first step in the process of change is to identify the need for change and the area of changes as to whether it is a strategic change, process oriented change or employee oriented change. This need for change can be identified either through internal or external factors. Once this need is identified the following general steps can be taken: Develop new goals and objectives. The manager must identify as to what new outcomes they wish to achieve. This may be modification of previous goals due to changed internal and external environment or it may be a new set of goals and objectives. Select an agent of change. The next step is that the management must decide as to who will initiate and oversee this change. One of the existing managers may be assigned this duty or even sometimes specialists and consultants can brought in from outside to suggest the various methods to bring in the change and monitor the change process. Diagnose the problem. The person who is appointed as the agent of the change will then gather all relevant data regarding the area of problem or the problem where the change is needed. This data should be critically analysed to pinpoint the key issues. Then the solutions can be focused on those key issues. Select Methodology. The next important step is to select a methodology for change; employee s emotion must be taken into consideration when devising such methodology. Develop a plan. After devising the methodology, the next step will be to put together a plan as to what is to be done. For example, if the management wants to change the promotion policy, it must decide as to what type of employees will be affected by it, whether to change the policy for all the departments at once or to try it on a few selected departments first. Strategy for the implementation of the plan. In this stage, the management must decide on the when, where and how of the plan. This includes the right time of 6

7 putting the plan to work, how the plan will be communicated to the employees in order to have the least resistance and how the implementation will be monitored. 2. Assessing Change Forces The planned change does not come automatically, rather there are many forces in individuals, groups and organization which resist such change. The change process will never be successful unless the cooperation of employees is ensured. Therefore, the management will have to create an environment in which change will be amicably accepted by people. If the management can overcome the resistance, change process will succeed. In a group process, there are always some forces who favour the change and some forces that are against the change. Thus, an equilibrium is established is maintained. Kurtlewin calls in the field of forces. Lewin assumes that in every situation there are both driving and restraining forces which influence any change that may occur. Driving forces are those forces which affect a situation by pushing in a particular direction. These forces tend to initiate the change and keep it going. Restraining forces act to restrain or decrease the driving forces. Equilibrium is reached when sum of the driving forces equals the sum of the restraining forces as shown in the following figure: There may be three types of situations, as both driving and restraining forces are operating: 7

8 1. If the driving forces far out weight the restraining forces, management can push driving forces and overpower restraining forces. 2. If restraining forces are stronger than driving forces, management either gives up the change programme or it can pursue it by concentrating on driving forces and changing restraining forces into driving ones or immobilizing them. 3. If driving and restraining forces are fairly equal, management can push up driving forces and at the same time can convert or immobilize restraining forces. Thus, to make the people accept the changes, the management must push driving forces and convert or immobilize the restraining forces. 3. Implementing the Change Once the management is able to establish favourable conditions, the right timing and right channels of communication have been established the plan will be put into action. It may be in the form of simple announcement or it may require briefing sessions or in house seminars so as to gain acceptance of all the members and specify those who are going to be directly affected by the change. After the plan has been implemented there should be evaluation of the plan which comprises of comparing actual results to the objectives. Feedback will confirm if these goals are being met so that if there is any deviation between the goals and actual performance, corrective actions can be taken. Kurt Lewin Kurt Lewin's Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze model is often referred to because it's been around a long time. It's also inspired many similar 3-step change management models that are really a spin on the Lewin model. The Lewin model is a great place to start! Lewin's force field analysis integrates with the three stage theory of change. The force field analysis is a great tool to motivate people towards change and understand resistance Organizational Change Process (Levin s 3 Stage Model) Any organizational change whether introduced through a new structural design or new technology or new training programme, basically attempts make employees change their behaviour. Unless the behavioral patterns of the members change the change will have a little impact on the effectiveness of the organization. Behavioral changes are not expected to be brought about overnight. These are the most difficult and marathon exercises. A commonly accepted model for bringing about changes in people was suggested by KURT LEWIN in terms of three phase s process:- 1. Unfreezing 8

9 2. Changing 3. Refreezing 1. Unfreezing Unfreezing means that old ideas and attitudes are set aside to give place to new ideas. It refers to making people aware that the present behaviour is inappropriate, irrelevant, inadequate and hence unsuitable for changing demands of the present situation. According to EDGAR SCHIEN the following four elements are necessary during this unfreezing phase:- The physical removal of the individuals, being changed from their accustomed routines, sources of information and social relationships. The undermining and destruction of social support. Demeaning and humiliating experience to help individuals, being changed, to see their old attitudes or behavior as unworthy and think to be motivated to change. The consistent linking of reward with willingness to change and of punishment with willingness to change. Unfreezing thus involves discarding the orthodox and conventional methods and introducing dynamic behavior, most appropriate to the situation. People are made to accept new alternatives. 2. Changing Unlike unfreezing changing is not uprooting of the old ideas, rather the old ideas are gradually replaced by the new ideas and practices. In changing phase new learning occurs. The necessary requirement is that various alternatives of behaviour must be made available in order to fill the vacuum created by unfreezing phase. During the phase of changing, individuals learn to behave in new ways, the individuals are provided with alternatives out of which choose the best one. KELMAN explains changing phase in terms of the following elements:- Compliance: it occurs when individuals are forced to change either by reward or by punishment. Internalization: it occurs when individuals are forced to encounter a situation and calls for new behavior. Identification: it occurs when individuals recognize one among various models provided in the environment that is most suitable to their personality. 3. Refreezing 9

10 Refreezing is on the job practice. The old ideas are totally discarded and new ideas are totally accepted. Refreezing reinforced attitudes, skills and knowledge. He practices and experiments with the new method of behavior and sees that it effectively blends with his other behavioural attitudes. FERSTER and SKINNER have in this connection introduced the main reinforcement schedules namely- Continuous and Intermittent reinforcements. Under continuous reinforcement individuals learn the new behaviour within no time. And intermittent reinforcement on the other hand, consumes a long time but it is has the greatest advantage of ensuring a long lasting change. Causes of Resistance to Organizational Change he main reasons for resistance to change are both individual and organization. The research document of individual and organizational behavior has found that organization groups and individuals resist change. Resistance to change provides a degree of stability and predictability to behavior, as it does not allow immediate change. If there was no resistance to change the organization will take on characteristics of chaotic randomness. There may be reasons for resistance to change for analytical purpose, lets us categories the causes into the following. 1. Individual Resistance. 2. Group Resistance. 3. Organizational Resistance. 1. Individual Resistance Individual arise due to differing perceptions, personalities and needs. Some of these reasons appear to be rational and emotional. These reasons are listed below, a). Economic Factors The economic reasons for the resistance to change may be the following: In organization when the development or change on technology takes place, employee resists the change. Employee may fear that the change will lead to technological unemployment. Generally, new technology is associated with education of labor intake and therefore they resist the change. For example the introduction of computer in an organization means that employee will have to learn the certain package to work efficiently. They may not be liked by some employees and they develop negative attitude towards computer and resist them. 10

11 In organization where pay is tied to productivity individuals usually resists change as they fear that they will not be able to perform new task effectively, thus causing a decline in productivity and a decrease in their income. Workers may fear that they will be demoted if they do not acquire the skills required for the new jobs. Workers resist the changes which lead to high standards which in turn may reduce the opportunities for bonus or incentive pay. Habit: All human being are creatures of habit. Individual generally feel comfortable in the environment that they are habituated to. The modern life is very complex and no one likes to consider the full range of option for the hundreds of decision which has to be made everyday. Instead we rely on habit or programmed responses. When confronted with change, the thought if moving away from the environment they are accustomed to become a source of resistance. Insecurity: Safety and security are high priority for every individual. One of the major reasons for resistance to change is uncertainty about the impact of change, especially on the job security. When employees feel that the security of the job is threatened by change, they resist it. The fear unknown always has a major impact on the decision of the individual. Lack of Communication: If the workers are given an opportunity to participate in the process of change, the resistance is likely to be less. But if the change is not properly communicated that to in an acceptable manner to the employees, it is likely to cause resistance. Extent of Change: If there is a minor change and the change involves only the routine operations the resistance will be minimum or no resistance. But incase of major changes like reshuffling of staff will lead to major visible resistance. Similarly the process of change is slow, the resistance will be less as compared to rapid or sudden change. b). Psychological Factors One of the major reasons for resistance can be emotional turmoil that a change may cause especially if the past experiences with the change have not been positive. The psychological reasons for the resistance to change are: Workers may have the fear that the new job will bring boredom and monotony as a result of specialization brought by the new technology. Change in technology brings new method of doing the job and it must be learnt and adopt the new ideas of doing the job. To learn these ideas they need work hard and they do not want to take the trouble in learning new things. The workers may be incapable of understanding the implications of new ideas and method. 11

12 Workers may not like criticism implied in a change that the present method is inadequate and unsuitable. New changes may lead to reduction of the personal pride of the workers because they fear that new work changes will do away with the need for much manual work. c). Social Factors Every individual have social needs like friends, belongingness, etc. In organization, while working employee develop social relationship with the other employees. They become members of certain informal group. The change will bring a fear in mind of people because generally people dislike with for new adjustment, breaking present social relationship reduce social relationship, feeling of outside interference in the form change agent etc. 2. Group Resistance While working in an organization the employee form informal group in the organization. The most organizational change has impact in informal group in the organization. Breaking up a close knit work group or changing social relationship can provoke a great deal of resistance. The main reason why the groups resist change is that they fear that their cohesiveness or existence is threatened by it. This is particularly true in case of group which are very cohesive where people have a strong case of belongingness to group and where member consider the group as superior to the other groups. 3. Organizational Resistance Organizational resistance means that the change is resisted at the level of the organizational itself. Some organizations are so designed that they resist new ideas, this is specifically true in case of organizations which are conservative in nature. Government agencies want to continue doing what they have been doing for a number of years even though there is need for the change in their services. Majority of the business firms are also resistant to changes. The major reasons for organizational resistance are: Threat to Power. Top management generally considers change as a threat to their power and influence in the organization due to which the change will be resisted by them. The introduction of participative decision making or self-managed work teams is the kind of change which is often seen as threatening by the middle and top level management. Group inertia. Sometimes, the individuals resist change because the group to which they belong resists it. The degree and force of resistance will depend upon how loyal one is to the group and how effectively the group resists the change. Organizational structure. Change is often resisted by the bureaucratic structures where jobs are narrowly defined, lines of authority clearly spelled and flow of i9nformation is stressed from top to bottom. Moreover, organizations are made up of 12

13 a number of interdependent subsystems, one system cannot be changed without affecting the others. Threat to specialization. Change in organization may threaten the expertise of specialized groups. For example, giving computer training to all the employees in the organization and giving personal computers was perceived as a threat by the experts in computer department of the organization. Resource constraints. Organizations need adequate financial resource for training change agents and for offering rewards to those who support change. An organization who does not have resources for implementing the change resists it. Sunk cost. The change is generally resisted by the top management because it often leads to the problem of sunk costs. The heavy capital which already invested in the fixed assets or the amount which has already been spent on the training of the employees will go waste if the change is introduced. Models of change management are useful in that they describe and simplify a process so that most of us can grasp what's going on. At the end of the day the reality is that change models are created by people. None of them describe a perfect change process. Think about it. If change always followed an exact pattern, if it was always predictable, there wouldn't be any need for you to be here right now! Change is not predictable; it does not follow the exact steps change management models suggest. So, explore these models of change management. Your job is to find the bits that are useful to you. Allow yourself a lot of flexibility when following a model rather than following any model too rigidly. At a personal and organizational level the change management models we choose are motivated by the way we approach change. There is no right or wrong. The way you go about implementing change will differ depending on the model you use, but there are basic steps that are essential to follow that are common to personal or organizational change. In today s world of IPR, TCS s strategy in terms of creating and owning knowledge and technology? There are three aspects here. One is property in terms of patents, second is property in terms of code and third is property in terms of branded products. We do have property which belongs to us in all these segments. To own the knowledge is, of course, one strategy. The other is to license the knowledge and capability available with somebody else, the third is to buy the intellectual assets, fourth is to incubate technologies and ideas of people, both within TCS and outside. We operate on all these dimensions. We have a mechanism to incubate start-up companies in specific areas like multimedia and wireless applications. Regarding owning knowledge, the key is to build on it. If you have a knowledge, a patent but don t know how to package it, brand it, market it, what use is it? Yes, you need to own knowledge, but how you market it globally, that is the challenge for Indian companies. Today the model 13

14 is if you have an intellectual asset, he has another piece of knowledge and a third person yet another intellectual asset; you combine the three and create a branded product. The market is for integrated products, the market cannot be confused by saying you sign a license for my portion and another license for his portion How do TCS manage change and consistently grow? TCS instituted within the organization as a way of life. That is borne out by the way invested in multiple technologies. Cross-train people on multiple technologies and assimilate new technologies within the organization as it happens and proactively invest in technologies. Second is relationship with technology partners and technology organizations, be it IBM, BP, Oracle or whoever. Second, a value to release these technologies in a market likes India. 14